Planning a move is one of the hardest and most draining things you can do, but things get much harder if you’re traveling from coast to coast since you now have to account for the hundreds of miles you and your belongings will travel before you’re home. Whenever you’re faced with a tough task, however, it’s always helpful to make a checklist and tackle things step by step, which is exactly what you’ll be able to do using this article. So read on!
Create a Timeline
Moving across the country will always be a task that’s difficult to accomplish, and you’ll have to make a step-by-step plan, checklist, and timeline to make sure you’re hitting all of your goals on time. You’ll need to begin planning weeks or even months, identifying the main considerations you have to make, whether it’s finding an apartment at your new destination, beginning to pack the things you need to bring, selling everything off, or even making a plan for your transportation, since you could either take a road trip or fly by plane to the place you’re trying to go to.
Figure out How to Bring Your Car
The next step on your checklist should be finding a way to bring your car, because you probably won’t be able to manage without a car in the first few weeks after your move. You have two main options here: go on a lengthy road trip or use a service to transport the car to another state. The first option may not be appealing because a road trip from one coast to another will take days of hard driving and staying at uncomfortable motels, and it may not even be possible if you have to drive your moving van yourself. On the other hand, a car shipping service is a great resource that can bring your car wherever you need it without any hassle.
Set a Budget and Find a Place to Stay
Creating a budget for your move is the next thing you should make sure to do, and this budget will depend largely on the place you find for yourself at your new destination. As previously mentioned, finding a place to stay is crucial and is something you should do well before you leave your old home because if you get to where you’re going and you don’t have anywhere to go, it’ll be incredibly tough to get settled. Get an apartment and consider the monthly rent you’ll have to pay, and use this information to calculate the amount of money you can spend on your move, and use that as a baseline for your traveling budget.
Figure out What You Can Bring with You
Your old home likely has a ton of things that you’re interested in bringing with you, but it’s not always possible to get everything you want, especially because you’ll only have so much space in the vans you’re renting to move your things, and it could be too expensive to rent another van just for a few more items that you don’t really need. Before your move, another important item on your list should be to go through your personal belongings, making sure you’re not missing anything, and objectively considering the things you’ll need at your new place. You probably won’t need all of your furniture, and bringing all your clothes will be a hassle you may not be equipped to deal with. Many people end up giving away old clothes and selling the rest of the items they don’t need, whether it’s appliances they bought or furniture they can’t bring, and this extra cash injection can increase the budget for the move, too, and make things far more comfortable.
Conclusion
Moving from coast to coast is an incredibly tough task, especially if you’re trying to manage all on your own because you’ll have to arrange transport not just for yourself but for your goods, too, as well as figuring out where you’ll be staying once you get to your destination. In these situations, a checklist can be incredibly helpful since it allows you to prioritize certain tasks over others and figure out what the first things you need to do are.